The Lady Waves have had some good, competitive games with the Tellico Lady Bears in recent seasons. This year, Tellico has moved down from AA and into the same district as Midway. Given the Lady Waves’ dominance in district play during the past several seasons, this new addition could be interesting. Interesting would be a good word to describe Monday’s game between these two teams.
In the first inning, Tellico got a runner into scoring position with only one out. Their left-handed power hitter laid down a bunt, with the purpose of putting the Lady Waves in a tough situation. The SOR girls handled it flawlessly. Pitcher Michelle Walden covered the bunt and quickly threw to second baseman Taylor Narramore, who was covering first base. Narramore stepped on the bag for out number two and fired home to catcher Paige Moree, who made a clean catch. Moree swiped her glove across the runner who was barreling from third. She’s out!
The same lefty who laid down the bunt was also Tellico’s pitcher, and she was throwing pretty hard. The Lady Waves got no runners on in the bottom of the first inning. It’s getting more interesting.
To start the second frame, a Lady Bear batter singled. On the next batter, that runner decided to test Moree’s arm. It was a bad decision. Moree made a hard throw, right on the money to short stop Hayley Patterson. Patty applied the tag for the out. Walden followed with two consecutive strike outs.
In the bottom of the second, right fielder Alex Richardson reached on a walk, but she was the only Lady Wave to get on base.
The top of the third saw Tellico’s first two batters reach base. Fortunately for Midway, they continued to test Moree. She hooked up with Patterson to catch both runners and get two outs. Unfortunately for the Lady Waves, they hit a rough spot after that. A few hits and an error or two put four runs on the score board for Tellico. Midway finally got the third out on a pop up to Patterson.
The Lady Waves went three up, three down in the bottom of the inning. This is getting a little too interesting.
The SOR girls bounced back defensively. They answered by allowing only three batters in the top of the fourth.
Anybody who has followed the Lady Waves this season knows that they can put some runs on the board. The issue today was if they could score enough to overcome a four run deficit at the halfway point in the game. With one out in the bottom of the fourth, left fielder Haley Parks was hit by a pitch. Richardson and Narramore followed with back to back singles. Just like that, Midway had the bases loaded with one out. After Alisa Barger came on as courtesy runner for Narramore, Patterson came to the plate to hit. And hit she did. Patty smacked a double to bring in both Parks and Richardson. 4-2, Tellico. Moree then came to the plate and laid down a beautiful bunt. Barger raced from third base to cross the plate, and Moree safely reached first base. 4-3, Tellico. Next, Hali Morris hit a big single to score both Patterson and Moree. 5-4, Midway! Later, with two outs, center fielder Danielle Borum slap-hit to bring Morris in. 6-4, Midway. After Borum stole second base, Walden hit a big double to push her across the plate. 7-4, Midway. Tellico finally got the third out, but not before one of the best one-inning comebacks Midway softball has ever seen.
The Lady Waves were all fired up and the Lady Bears seemed to be losing steam. Tellico was scoreless in the top of the fifth.
In the bottom of the inning, Midway was still hungry for some runs. After a Narramore walk, Patterson singled. Moree once again laid down a nice bunt to load the bases. Then, a miscue between the Tellico pitcher and catcher allowed Narramore to steal home. Later in the inning, Borum slapped Patterson in. A close tag play at third ended the inning, but the Lady Waves had added a little more cushion. 9-4, Midway.
A Walden strike out and a line out to Parks started the sixth. On the next batter, Narramore robbed Tellico of a potential base hit when she ate dirt to get to a hard grounder. From the ground, Narramore flipped the ball to Taylr Hall at first base for the out.
Walden started out the bottom by drawing a walk, then was replaced on base by Halie Wiley. After Richardson also walked, Narramore delivered a 2 RBI single. Later, with two outs, Moree singled. Morris followed with a huge triple down the right field line to score Narramore and Moree. By the time the sixth inning was over, the Lady Waves led, 13-4.
The Midway defense was determined to end it. Another line out to Parks was followed by a ground out from Patterson to Richardson, who had moved to first base. Walden then fired another strike out to make it final.
The Lady Waves really showed heart in this one. With a win today, Tellico could have taken first place in the district standings and gained a psychological advantage over the Lady Waves. These SOR girls weren’t having it. In two and half innings, Midway went from four down to nine up against a pretty good team. That takes talent and guts.
Midway’s top performers at the plate included Hali Morris (2-4, 4 RBI), Taylor Narramore (2-3, 2 RBI), Paige Moree (3-4, RBI), Hayley Patterson (2-4, 2 RBI), and Danielle Borum (2-4, 2 RBI). Walden threw four strike outs from the pitching plate.